Imran steps up pressure on Prime Minister

Rejecting the judicial commission announced by The Prime Minister to investigate into Panama Leaks, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said that international forensic experts should be included in a commission headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference after presiding over a meeting of party’s core committee, he declared the judicial commission as a mere ‘eyewash’, which he insisted, would be an exercise in futility without international forensic experts and without consulting the opposition parties on the terms of reference (ToRs).

Imran said: “Mian sahib, don’t mention Imran’s name. Your name has been mentioned in the Panama papers, and not Imran Khan’s, so the accountability will start from you and then rest of them”.

He regretted that the Prime Minister should have told the nation about his offshore companies, but throughout his televised address to the nation, “it was clear that he is trying to hide something, which is quite disappointing.”

“The Prime Minister had nothing substantial in his address except personal attacks on me but he should know that the names of eight countries’ leaders have surfaced in the Panama paper, but no one termed it a conspiracy except Nawaz Sharif,” he regretted.

He reiterated that he is ready for accountability, adding, “Start accountability from me, as I earned abroad and invested in Pakistan through legal means and not through hundi or any other illegal means”.

He said the allegations of concealing his assets, tax evasion, etc, constitute a complete charge sheet, adding after these allegations, there is no moral ground with the prime minister to rule any longer, “as credibility is the only thing through which a ruler can rule.”

While investigation depends on the ToRs but the government did not share anything before finalising these, he said; adding if the government is serious about accountability, it may have formed an inquiry commission based on mutually agreed ToRs.

“This commission does not have powers more than that of a civil court and we totally reject it…the opposition political parties must have been consulted,” he maintained.

Khan said that he would announce his future line of action against the government in his party’s foundation day function being organised in Islamabad today (Sunday). “We’ll announce our next plan when the PTI will start protests if the government does not fulfill their demands,” he added.

Imran demanded that the commission may acquire services of a forensic audit firm as well as investigation agencies including Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as well as National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for internal and external probe of foreign accounts.